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American Morning
Isabel Causing Flooding Up and Down Chesapeake Bay
Aired September 19, 2003 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the main concerns about Isabel was flooding and it is happening. Isabel is causing flooding up and down the Chesapeake Bay. You're looking at pictures from Alexandria, Virginia, part of the city's Old Town under water this morning.
Isabel was downgraded to a tropical storm late last night, but it is still dumping plenty of rain on Pennsylvania, where hundreds now, of trees, have been blown down. All told, three and a half million people lost power due to the storm and by some reports at least eight people have been killed.
Let's get an update on the very latest from Chad Myers.
He is at the CNN Center for us -- Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And that is the truth, the very latest. Now, the eight o'clock advisory, 25 miles east of Pittsburgh. Winds are 40 miles per hour, moving to the north-northwest at 22. So just to the west of the P there in Philadelphia, that's the center of the storm, moving up into western Pennsylvania, into the Allegheny Plateau, eventually over Lake Erie and, for that matter, right on into Ontario and then finally up and around Toronto and then back out the other side.
Still seeing rain showers, though, on the east side from Albany into Rhode Island, almost to Boston. And then on the west side it's still raining in Detroit. So this storm system is still very wide, even though it's falling apart right now, the winds coming down, the rain coming down, as well -- Bill, back to you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Chad, thanks.
Check back in in a couple of minutes there.
People living in some areas hardest hit by Isabel now starting to assess the damage on the day after.
David Ensor in Alexandria, Virginia. Parts of that town still underwater today -- David, good morning.
How goes it?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, the water is receding a little bit here on King Street in downtown Alexandria, but they are worried that it may come up again later. High tide will be three or four o'clock in the afternoon and there is a tidal surge pushing the water up from the Chesapeake up the Potomac River. The water is going in the wrong direction on this river right now, so there is concern that there will be water, once again, here, going up higher than it is right now. It's been receding a little bit.
The federal government here in the Washington, D.C. area is, of course, closed. About two million customers are without electrical power in this part of the country. Here in Alexandria, the authorities are giving a news conference right now and telling reporters to boil their water and to try to use as little as possible. In nearby Fairfax County, same thing. Their, all three of their water processing plants are down at this point.
So quite a lot of damage in this area, quite a few problems. A lot of trees down, hundreds in this, Alexandria, alone. And in Washington, D.C., where I live, it took me a long time to get here, I can tell you. There's trees down every few blocks -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, thank you.
David Ensor, Alexandria.
Also in Virginia, Virginia Beach, one of the hardest hit areas by Isabel, the city's mayor has been with us for the past few days running as they get ready for that storm and then again yesterday in progress.
The day after now with Mayor Meyera Oberndorff. She's with us again to talk about conditions this morning.
Madam Mayor, good morning to you.
And, again, we appreciate your time. I know you've been extremely busy there.
How are things in your town? MAYOR MEYERA OBERNDORFF, VIRGINIA CITY, VIRGINIA: Well, thank god, the storm went through quickly and the Hurricane Protection Project did work at the ocean front. It preserved the hotels and businesses. And in addition, we've had a lot of damage from downed trees. I can talk about my own home. When I got back there in the middle of the night, I could not believe it was my home.
So we're going to be digging out and cleaning up for a good while. But thank god there were no injuries, no deaths. Everybody just turned to and did what we asked them to. We have about 158,000 people without power in Virginia Beach because we're a city of 450,000. So that vies you some idea. But we have this wonderful spirit. When the sun comes out, we can tackle anything.
HEMMER: Wow, that's great to hear, too. And, again, I think you paint a silver lining for us. But you also mentioned there why you were successful. Can you give me some specifics about this Protection Project that you had in place for the hurricane? OBERNDORFF: Yes. What we did is we widened our beach four times its normal width and we built a wall so that the ocean would have the opportunity to take out her energy and her anger on the sand and on the wall instead of going up against the buildings that are right along the ocean front.
We also have the experience of preparing for hurricanes. I've got the most fabulous professionals in my government. They set up everything. We had a plan. We worked the plan. God was very good to us and we managed to come out fairly unscathed. And we're (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: Wow, that is good news, good news there, too.
A couple more things, Mayor, if I could, quickly.
When will people be allowed to go back to their homes who have been evacuated?
OBERNDORFF: They will be allowed to go back this morning. In fact, I'm told some tried to go back at five o'clock yesterday, but when they saw the storm and the water, they turned around and came back to the shelters.
HEMMER: Yes. And the people without power...
OBERNDORFF: We will keep the...
HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption.
OBERNDORFF: That's OK.
HEMMER: The people without power, about a third of your residents, when does that come back, do you know?
OBERNDORFF: We have heard anywhere from two days to two weeks. My husband and I are part of the folks without power.
HEMMER: Do you have an estimate on damage at this point?
OBERNDORFF: No, we really don't because we not had a chance to look at what has occurred in daylight. And so we will be going today to take a look to see if there is any significant damage.
HEMMER: Listen, thank you very much, Mayor.
Meyera Oberndorff there in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
You talked about the power, 158,000 still without electricity today in a town of about 450,000. That paints a pretty broad brush.
Good luck to you and I hope it's not two weeks. I hope it's two days before you get it working again.
Thanks again, all right?
OBERNDORFF: Thanks a million.
HEMMER: OK, for sure.
OBERNDORFF: Thank you.
HEMMER: Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, North Carolina was hit very hard by the hurricane.
CNN's Jeff Flock rode out the storm in Atlantic Beach and here's a look at just some of what the experience was like for him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Jeff Flock in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.
Winds definitely picking up. I just talked to our hurricane researchers and they say that they think the worst of the winds are about 70, 80 minutes away based on their live radars that he's got.
I don't know if you can see, this is not a good place to be right now.
It is really coming in right now. They -- we said we thought we were going to get right to the eye wall and I think we are safely, can safely say that we're in the eye wall right now. We've had some real intense wind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eye wall is just getting here and as you've seen, the last gusts we had was almost 70 miles an hour.
FLOCK: A category two storm. Really when the most intense part of the eye wall hits us, I'll tell you, it is all that you want to have out here on the beach in North Carolina.
Not a whole of damage is the bottom line. We see, you know, occasional shingles coming off roofs, some skirts pulling away from mobile homes. But other than that, not a whole lot of damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house had been fine. There's a few shingles off around the area. This is rather mild compared to some of them that have been down here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen this motel that I assume you're staying in.
FLOCK: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being blown to pieces before.
FLOCK: Yes, they told us when we were checking in last night. They said, you know what? This was knocked down before. But, you know, we think it's built better now. It never gets old for me, as my wife says. It never gets old for you, does it? This is one thing that never gets old for me. I do enjoy the, you know, the fury of nature. These are storms that are not strong enough to really harm you, but you can be out in them and really experience it and almost get lifted off your feet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLOCK: You are looking live now at a picture of Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, and what a difference a day makes. You know, Soledad, in some ways this was the perfect storm for whether you're a storm chaser or a reporter like me, a storm where you can be out in it, not so strong that you need to take cover.
Of course, had this been a category five, four, even a category three storm, there would have been debris flying through the air. It would have been very dangerous and we certainly wouldn't have been standing out there.
But it's sort of all worth it because it's a beautiful day on the North Carolina shore this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And, Jeff, it is a beautiful picture there. I know, obviously, you clearly enjoy it. But I've got to tell you, we worry a little bit about you, OK?
Thanks so much for those updates there.
FLOCK: I think we'll be OK.
O'BRIEN: Yes, today, clearly.
Thanks, Jeff.
FLOCK: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 19, 2003 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: One of the main concerns about Isabel was flooding and it is happening. Isabel is causing flooding up and down the Chesapeake Bay. You're looking at pictures from Alexandria, Virginia, part of the city's Old Town under water this morning.
Isabel was downgraded to a tropical storm late last night, but it is still dumping plenty of rain on Pennsylvania, where hundreds now, of trees, have been blown down. All told, three and a half million people lost power due to the storm and by some reports at least eight people have been killed.
Let's get an update on the very latest from Chad Myers.
He is at the CNN Center for us -- Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And that is the truth, the very latest. Now, the eight o'clock advisory, 25 miles east of Pittsburgh. Winds are 40 miles per hour, moving to the north-northwest at 22. So just to the west of the P there in Philadelphia, that's the center of the storm, moving up into western Pennsylvania, into the Allegheny Plateau, eventually over Lake Erie and, for that matter, right on into Ontario and then finally up and around Toronto and then back out the other side.
Still seeing rain showers, though, on the east side from Albany into Rhode Island, almost to Boston. And then on the west side it's still raining in Detroit. So this storm system is still very wide, even though it's falling apart right now, the winds coming down, the rain coming down, as well -- Bill, back to you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Chad, thanks.
Check back in in a couple of minutes there.
People living in some areas hardest hit by Isabel now starting to assess the damage on the day after.
David Ensor in Alexandria, Virginia. Parts of that town still underwater today -- David, good morning.
How goes it?
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, the water is receding a little bit here on King Street in downtown Alexandria, but they are worried that it may come up again later. High tide will be three or four o'clock in the afternoon and there is a tidal surge pushing the water up from the Chesapeake up the Potomac River. The water is going in the wrong direction on this river right now, so there is concern that there will be water, once again, here, going up higher than it is right now. It's been receding a little bit.
The federal government here in the Washington, D.C. area is, of course, closed. About two million customers are without electrical power in this part of the country. Here in Alexandria, the authorities are giving a news conference right now and telling reporters to boil their water and to try to use as little as possible. In nearby Fairfax County, same thing. Their, all three of their water processing plants are down at this point.
So quite a lot of damage in this area, quite a few problems. A lot of trees down, hundreds in this, Alexandria, alone. And in Washington, D.C., where I live, it took me a long time to get here, I can tell you. There's trees down every few blocks -- Bill.
HEMMER: David, thank you.
David Ensor, Alexandria.
Also in Virginia, Virginia Beach, one of the hardest hit areas by Isabel, the city's mayor has been with us for the past few days running as they get ready for that storm and then again yesterday in progress.
The day after now with Mayor Meyera Oberndorff. She's with us again to talk about conditions this morning.
Madam Mayor, good morning to you.
And, again, we appreciate your time. I know you've been extremely busy there.
How are things in your town? MAYOR MEYERA OBERNDORFF, VIRGINIA CITY, VIRGINIA: Well, thank god, the storm went through quickly and the Hurricane Protection Project did work at the ocean front. It preserved the hotels and businesses. And in addition, we've had a lot of damage from downed trees. I can talk about my own home. When I got back there in the middle of the night, I could not believe it was my home.
So we're going to be digging out and cleaning up for a good while. But thank god there were no injuries, no deaths. Everybody just turned to and did what we asked them to. We have about 158,000 people without power in Virginia Beach because we're a city of 450,000. So that vies you some idea. But we have this wonderful spirit. When the sun comes out, we can tackle anything.
HEMMER: Wow, that's great to hear, too. And, again, I think you paint a silver lining for us. But you also mentioned there why you were successful. Can you give me some specifics about this Protection Project that you had in place for the hurricane? OBERNDORFF: Yes. What we did is we widened our beach four times its normal width and we built a wall so that the ocean would have the opportunity to take out her energy and her anger on the sand and on the wall instead of going up against the buildings that are right along the ocean front.
We also have the experience of preparing for hurricanes. I've got the most fabulous professionals in my government. They set up everything. We had a plan. We worked the plan. God was very good to us and we managed to come out fairly unscathed. And we're (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: Wow, that is good news, good news there, too.
A couple more things, Mayor, if I could, quickly.
When will people be allowed to go back to their homes who have been evacuated?
OBERNDORFF: They will be allowed to go back this morning. In fact, I'm told some tried to go back at five o'clock yesterday, but when they saw the storm and the water, they turned around and came back to the shelters.
HEMMER: Yes. And the people without power...
OBERNDORFF: We will keep the...
HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption.
OBERNDORFF: That's OK.
HEMMER: The people without power, about a third of your residents, when does that come back, do you know?
OBERNDORFF: We have heard anywhere from two days to two weeks. My husband and I are part of the folks without power.
HEMMER: Do you have an estimate on damage at this point?
OBERNDORFF: No, we really don't because we not had a chance to look at what has occurred in daylight. And so we will be going today to take a look to see if there is any significant damage.
HEMMER: Listen, thank you very much, Mayor.
Meyera Oberndorff there in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
You talked about the power, 158,000 still without electricity today in a town of about 450,000. That paints a pretty broad brush.
Good luck to you and I hope it's not two weeks. I hope it's two days before you get it working again.
Thanks again, all right?
OBERNDORFF: Thanks a million.
HEMMER: OK, for sure.
OBERNDORFF: Thank you.
HEMMER: Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, North Carolina was hit very hard by the hurricane.
CNN's Jeff Flock rode out the storm in Atlantic Beach and here's a look at just some of what the experience was like for him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Jeff Flock in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.
Winds definitely picking up. I just talked to our hurricane researchers and they say that they think the worst of the winds are about 70, 80 minutes away based on their live radars that he's got.
I don't know if you can see, this is not a good place to be right now.
It is really coming in right now. They -- we said we thought we were going to get right to the eye wall and I think we are safely, can safely say that we're in the eye wall right now. We've had some real intense wind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eye wall is just getting here and as you've seen, the last gusts we had was almost 70 miles an hour.
FLOCK: A category two storm. Really when the most intense part of the eye wall hits us, I'll tell you, it is all that you want to have out here on the beach in North Carolina.
Not a whole of damage is the bottom line. We see, you know, occasional shingles coming off roofs, some skirts pulling away from mobile homes. But other than that, not a whole lot of damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house had been fine. There's a few shingles off around the area. This is rather mild compared to some of them that have been down here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen this motel that I assume you're staying in.
FLOCK: Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being blown to pieces before.
FLOCK: Yes, they told us when we were checking in last night. They said, you know what? This was knocked down before. But, you know, we think it's built better now. It never gets old for me, as my wife says. It never gets old for you, does it? This is one thing that never gets old for me. I do enjoy the, you know, the fury of nature. These are storms that are not strong enough to really harm you, but you can be out in them and really experience it and almost get lifted off your feet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FLOCK: You are looking live now at a picture of Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, and what a difference a day makes. You know, Soledad, in some ways this was the perfect storm for whether you're a storm chaser or a reporter like me, a storm where you can be out in it, not so strong that you need to take cover.
Of course, had this been a category five, four, even a category three storm, there would have been debris flying through the air. It would have been very dangerous and we certainly wouldn't have been standing out there.
But it's sort of all worth it because it's a beautiful day on the North Carolina shore this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And, Jeff, it is a beautiful picture there. I know, obviously, you clearly enjoy it. But I've got to tell you, we worry a little bit about you, OK?
Thanks so much for those updates there.
FLOCK: I think we'll be OK.
O'BRIEN: Yes, today, clearly.
Thanks, Jeff.
FLOCK: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
